96% of Community Reinvestment Act Officers have financial education as part of their current CRA strategy. Our Community Reinvestment and the Role of Financial Education Survey Results review CRA officers’ strategies for achieving CRA’s compliance and community relations objectives.

The Treasury Department has given financial institutions an indication of what may change for the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) under the Trump administration. Considering firms have not seen this level of proposed change to the CRA in a while, it suggests the Treasury Department (“Department”) is serious.

In an extensivereport, Secretary Mnuchin describes the status quo of banks, their problems, and possible solutions. Updating the CRA is one solution that can be a “response to the real risks that American consumers and the American economy face.” While this report is not official, meaning it doesn’t change any laws or guidance, it provides touch-points that banks should already be on top of: streamlining examinations, leveraging technology and impact, and how banks can prepare.

Streamlined Examinations

The Department plans to change how regulators examine banks. The long stretches of time between bank examinations constrains banks’ abilities to grow, i.e., mergers and branch openings. Additionally, the standards and processes used by different regulators are not fully aligned. They are also outdated.Interagency guidance about the CRA, published in 2016, recognizes that technology can be a factor in evaluating retail banking services, and indicates that the agencies will consider “new methods as technology evolves.”

As a result, the Department seeks “improvement in the regulatory review and rating assessment process, which would consider the frequency of examinations, the ability of institutions to remediate ratings, and the transparency of how the overall CRA assessment rating is determined.”

Technology and Impact

Examinations should better consider technology as banks increasingly “use technology, such as automated and online offerings, to extend services outside of physical branches,” according to the Department. Particularly, the Department would like to consider assessment areas in communities based on “the changing nature of technology.”

Measurement of impact will be more of a factor as well. This is a sign that impact should not just be relegated to particular zip codes, counties, or areas. It should cross state and local borders. “While all three prudential regulators are involved in checking CRA compliance, none are responsible for evaluating how well the CRA accomplishes its mission.” This is a problem, as guidance indicates that “assessments will depend on the impact of a particular activity on community needs and the benefits received by a community.” Indeed, firms can get additional CRA credit for showing impact. This is likely why the Treasury Department wants CRA investments to be “measured to improve their benefit to communities.” If firms are not measuring the impact of their community development efforts, they should be.

Next Steps

It is unclear how fast the Department will move, as it may wait for approval by thePresident. At least, the Department “will include soliciting input from individual consumer advocates and other stakeholders.” So while the CRA will generally stay the same for the time being, EY warns the banking industry that uncertainty is no excuse for inaction. It suggests that banks “harness and embrace technology to meaningfully reduce costs and risks and improve agility.” Better yet, banks that incorporate responsible technology into their CRA programs can alsohelp bring fintech, and their products, to the masses.

Since starting his career, Zach Wagner’s work has focused on the intersection of education, technology, and design. He started his education career in a classroom in North Philadelphia and has been committed to transforming education ever since. After graduate school, he joined fellow Harvard graduate in building a product that teachers could use for quick classroom assessment. Their product was regularly used by over 60,000 teachers and 2 million students. Since joining EVERFI in 2014, he has led the development of some of the most wide-reaching digital programs in the education space.

Zach holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Art from Vassar College and a Ed.M. in Technology and Innovation from Harvard University.

Tom Parisi, Executive Vice President - K-12 Schools Network

Tom has been with EVERFI since 2010 and is passionate about the organization’s approach to educating the whole child. He currently oversees the K12 team that works with over 70,000 teachers and administrators throughout the United States and Canada.

Tom received a B.A. in Economics and Public Policy from Duke University, and before joining EVERFI, spent four fun and rewarding years teaching at a middle school in Alexandria, VA. Tom also attempted to coach soccer at the school, but after three straight championship losses, boosters bought out the remainder of his contract.

Rob Buelow, Vice President - Higher Education

Rob Buelow is a public health professional and award-winning expert in campus sexual assault prevention, with over 10 years of experience in Higher Education. At EVERFI, Rob oversees prevention research and thought leadership while also contributing to the ongoing development of EVERFI’s leading online prevention platforms. He has received state and national recognition for his work as a prevention educator, including the 2009 Outstanding Prevention Educator award from the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Kim Timpf, Senior Director - Higher Education

Ms. Timpf has more than 20 years experience in the college alcohol and other drug prevention field, having worked at both public and private universities. She has authored and managed federal and state grants, coordinated nationally recognized prevention programs, and served multiple terms as the directorate chair of AOD issues for ACPA. At EVERFI, Kimberley serves as a subject matter expert in alcohol prevention program design and development, application of prevention theory in higher education settings, training and instruction, and methods of evaluation.

Meg Moyer, Vice President of Research

At EVERFI, Meg researches the interplay between education, financial institutions, and social factors in influencing financial capability. She also measures the impact of financial education courses on learners using assessment and survey data, providing reports of course impact to sponsors, districts, and schools around the country. Prior to EVERFI, Meg held a similar role assessing the impact of online and offline educational programming for youth sports coaches. Meg holds a degree in economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA from San Diego State University.

Dan Zapp, Director of Research

Dr. Dan leads the data analysis, development, and dissemination of findings for the research arm at EVERFI. He earned his PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology at George Mason University, where he studied social, emotional, and cognitive development in children, adolescents, and young adults as well as how to leverage sound research into actionable decisions for parents, educators, administrators, and policy-makers. Specifically, Dan focuses on the development of critical concepts in adolescence and teaching young adults about substance abuse and sexual assault, using educational technology.